About Frederick Aiken by Thomas R. Turner Professor and Historian, Bridgewater State College

Frederick A. Aiken

Popular music uses the term “one hit wonder” to refer to an individual or group that recorded an enormous hit but who were never again able to duplicate their initial success. Historians deal with a similar phenomenon, individuals who lived fairly ordinary lives that would not have put their names into the history books except for the fact that they found themselves thrust into the spotlight of some very significant historical event. This is the case with Frederick Aiken. Many people familiar with Lincoln’s assassination reacted skeptically when it was announced that Aiken would be one of the leading characters in “The Conspirator” since so little was known about him other than his defense of Mary Surratt. The filming of the movie, however, has led to a great deal of research that has shed additional light on his life and career.

Frederick Aiken was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1832, according to his birth record and both the 1840 and 1850 census. At the age of ten he moved with his parents to Hardwick, Vermont, where he attended Morrisville and St. Johnsbury academies. He attended Middlebury College where he studied journalism and became the editor of the Burlington Sentinel.

He married Sarah Olivia Weston who was a brilliant woman in her own right. Sarah originally studied with her father Judge Edmund Weston but was also educated in Boston. She was one of the first women students granted privileges by Harvard College.

Despite erroneous claims that he graduated from Harvard Law School (Harvard has no record of his attendance), like most lawyers of his day—including Abraham Lincoln—he apprenticed himself to a lawyer, in this case his father-in-law Judge Weston. In 1859 he was admitted to the Vermont Bar; the next year he relocated to Washington, D.C.

Despite being a newcomer to the nation’s capital he moved in high social and political circles. He served as the secretary of the Democratic National Committee where he supported the presidential candidacy of John C. Breckenridge. Aiken also wrote a letter to Secretary of State William Seward enclosing a letter from Colonel Isaac Stevens expressing his disappointment at not receiving a more significant military command (Stevens’ letter is also in Aiken’s handwriting). Stevens, a well-known military figure and politician, apparently felt that a note transmitted (and written) by Aiken would enhance his case.

In addition Aiken wrote a letter to Jefferson Davis offering his services to the Confederacy as a writer, an unusual offer given his service during the war in the Union army. Some historians have speculated that the letter might have been part of some elaborate espionage plan. An equally plausible explanation is that, as a Democrat who did not like Abraham Lincoln, Aiken may have had some sympathies with the Confederacy early in the war.

Though Aiken's military service has been more difficult to verify in all of its details, correspondence concerning his service appears in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. A dispatch from Aiken to Winfield Scott Hancock notes that he served as acting aide de camp to Hancock on May 5, 1862 during the battle of Williamsburg, Virginia, while a dispatch from Hancock praising Aiken and several other officers refers to him as volunteer aide de camp to the division commander General William F. Smith. Aiken apparently served gallantly having horses shot out from under him and being wounded.

While Aiken’s defense of Mary Surratt is sometimes portrayed as inept it was not easy to obtain lawyers for the accused Lincoln conspirators much less to secure acquittals. All of those tried were found guilty; however, if Andrew Johnson had approved the clemency petition submitted by the Military Commission (debate still rages as to whether Judge-Advocate Joseph Holt showed it to the president) Mary Surratt would have been sentenced to life in prison and probably would have been pardoned in 1869.

Interestingly, while it was previously believed that Aiken (with partner John Clampitt) worked for Senator Reverdy Johnson, he had his own law practice and may have approached Senator Johnson to draft a plea against the military court’s jurisdiction over civilians. The fact that Senator Johnson withdrew from active participation in the trial (leaving Aiken to defend Mary), left an impression that Johnson believed Surratt was guilty but that she should not be tried by the military.

Aiken and Clampitt’s partnership ended shortly after the trial which could mean that their defense of Mary Surratt prevented them from attracting new clients. A more significant factor in the demise of the firm may have been a scandal. The New York Times reported Aiken’s arrest in June of 1866 when he cashed a check with a merchant but did not have the funds to cover the amount.

Despite this indiscretion Aiken continued his contacts with prominent individuals, even writing a letter to Jefferson Davis in which he congratulated him upon his release from Fortress Monroe. In 1868, he returned to his previous career in journalism; at the time of his death he was serving as the first city editor of The Washington Post.

Aiken died a relatively young man (46) in 1878, from heart-related problems (likely aggravated by his war service and wounds). While he is buried in an unmarked grave in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, research provoked by the production of THE CONSPIRATOR has shown him to be a much more complex figure than the inexperienced lawyer who had his moment in the spotlight during one of the most sensational trials in American history.

Some research provided by the Surratt House Museum and the James O. Hall Research Center.

Note: There are a number of researchers who have added to our previously sparse knowledge about Aiken including Christine Christensen, Laurie Verge, Melissa Jacobson, and Herb Swingle who discovered the copy of Aiken's letter to Jefferson Davis. Many thanks to Christine and Herb for sharing some of their recent research.